


I Like You a Latte!

by Hitchhikersguide, SaltyCatPerson



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Best Friends, College AU, Cuban Lance, Flirting, Gaming, Garrison - Freeform, Garrison trio, Hunk is studying Geology, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance is a disaster Bi, Lance speaks Spanish, M/M, Matt is studying Astrophysics, Mercury Gameflux, Pidge is studying Botany, Siblings, So cliche lmao, barista!Allura, barista!lance, coffee shop AU, lance is studying marine biology, modern day AU, swearing!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-06-28 09:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15704655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hitchhikersguide/pseuds/Hitchhikersguide, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaltyCatPerson/pseuds/SaltyCatPerson
Summary: ⚠️⚠️DISCONTINUED⚠️⚠️Lance, a barista, meets his best friend's brother, who just happens to be the most attractive man he's ever seen.Cue Lance being an absolute mess.





	1. The Garrison Trio

They were known as the three musketeers at their high school, Garrison High. They were thick as thieves, like some special invisible magnet had pulled them together when they first started school. Lance McClain, Hunk Garret and Pidge Gunderson - or Katie Holt to her family. The trio were drawn together by their shared love of video games and would often play MMOGs every other day. Strangely enough, Pidge was a couple of years younger than Lance and Hunk, though her intellect had meant that she could skip two years. Because of this, the girl would often get picked on but had the two boys to protect her - not that they were too much help; Lance's bark was bigger than his bite, and Hunk was just a big softy. However, she appreciated the thought. 

"Guys!" The shorter and younger 'musketeer' called to her only friends, "Matt bought me the Mercury GameFlux! You know, the new game console that came out a few days ago?" Pidge continued enthusiastically.

"Really? No way! How did he get a hold of it?" Hunk asked excitedly, sharing a wide grin with the girl.

"Wait, wait, wait, Matt? You mean your dorky older brother?" Lance chipped in, with a bit of an unamused tone. The taller boy had never met Matthew Holt, though had heard many tales from Pidge. For example, he had once watched the same episode Bill Nye the Science Guy just to memorise his script. Or that time where he tried to flirt with someone but ended up going on a tangent about astrophysics.

Pidge merely rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yep. That's the one."

"Hey, could we play it later? Maybe after school today?" Hunk offered still glowing from her exciting announcement.

The girl smiled, "Yeah, sounds good! Though, my family will be home, if that bothers you."

Hunk shook his head, "Of course that won't bother me, your parents are great! They make amazing risotto..." he said dreamily, before turning to his other friend, "Lance, are you gonna come too?"

The Cuban shrugged, "Sure, why not? I'll get Allura to cover my shift."

Lance had been working at a coffee shop, named 'Altea', that was a ten minute walk from the school for a few months now. He was hired due to his confident demeanour and ability to talk to people with ease, which allowed him to happily talk to customers, and possibly persuade them to come again. It definitely helped the business. The young brunette was always good at talking to new people, even sometimes flirting with a joking undertone. It added to his charm as a person, he would sometimes consider himself 'popular' which in a way made people back off from Pidge as they knew that the two were friends.

"So it's settled? We walk back to mine, grab some snacks and plug in this bad boy?" Pidge reiterated so she was sure on the plan, to which Lance and Hunk both nodded in agreement. The three then made the plan to meet after school so they could enjoy the new console.

The last bell of the day rang through the hall and packed classrooms, which very quickly became deserted. The corridors were soon flooded with tons of students desperately trying to escape the building for the weekend. Lance and Hunk left their biology class and met up with Pidge by the school's entrance (or in this case, exit).

"Hurry up, you Grandpas." She called as they approached.

"It's not our fault you're small and agile, you gremlin." Lance teased back. They excitedly chatted as they walked to the newsagent just around the corner from the Holt residence. 

They were greeted by the eccentric, Australian shop owner, "Well, hello, there my favourite small children!"

Lance laughed, "While Pidge may be small, Hunk and I are 18 years of age." He placed his hands on his hips triumphantly. They browsed the aisles and picked out bags of chips and candy they deemed appropriate for the occasion. Once they had an acceptable amount of various snacks, they brought the handfuls up to the till. The man smiled at them, waving goodbye as the three swiftly exited the building.


	2. A Matthew Holt Appears!

After an unnecessary 3 minute walk back to Pidge's humble abode; the three impatiently entered the house and instantly headed to the shorter one's room, after Hunk quickly said a cheerful hello to Colleen - Pidge's mother. 

As the trio hopped up the stairs and clambered into Katie Holt's messy yet cosy bedroom, the girl turned to Hunk and tutted jokingly, "I swear my mom prefers you to me.. and I'm her daughter!" She pointed out sarcastically. 

"Yeah, wow, I'm so sorry that I'm just that loveable.." the boy responded with, the same level of sarcasm hit back in her direction. The three dropped their bags down by the door and swiftly made their way over to the bed, crossing their legs once they sat. Pidge booted up the much anticipated console, handing over a couple of controllers for the other two. This was it, the 'three musketeers' set up an account on the console and soon started up a new game. They were hyped, thrilled for what the contents were to offer them in the way of enjoyment.

Hours had passed, it was growing a little darker outside, the bags of snacks were practically empty and Lance, Hunk and Pidge were still playing the new RPG that Matt had bought along with the console. The light radiating off of the screen and onto the three faces, that were quite concentrated, soon flashed to a bright red as the words 'GAME OVER' were displayed. An eruption of, 'ugh!' escaped the mouths of the two boys and the girl. 

A few moments later, footsteps could be heard making their way to Pidge's room, "Hey Katie, could you and your friends quiet down a bit? I'm.. trying to sleep.." the disorientated voice of a guy, possibly a couple of years older than Lance and Hunk, spoke. This caused the three heads to turn so they were looking at the entrance to her room.

Lance's eyes widened as he was greeted with a tall, mousy brown haired male - who just so happened to only be wearing joggers. Was this Matt? The Matthew Holt? The 'dorky', older brother of Pidge? Suddenly, the lanky Cuban scrambled to his feet, leaning his elbow against a wheeled office chair and giving the boy in the doorway his trademark smirk. 

"So you're the famous Matthew Holt that I've heard so much about? The name's Lance, and there's two things that I like, boys and coffee. And together, we can make latte.." he spoke in a smooth and flirtatious tone, somehow able to make a ship name for the two on the spot. Just then, he put too much pressure onto the chair which caused it to swivel around. Lance lost his balance, proceeding to fall to the floor in a chaotic manner.

Slowly, Matt squinted at Lance, and looked back up to Pidge, "Katie, your friends are weird." and left drowsily.

Lance groaned and rested his head against the frame of the chair, "I just embarrassed myself in front of a hot guy!"

"First of all, ew, that's my brother, second of all, yeah, you did."

Hunk chimed in, "It's not as bad as you think! It's late, he's clearly tired, he probably won't even remember you in the morning. Chin up, buddy."

"Late?" He lifted his head up and looked at the clock, "oh, shit, it's eleven o'clock, I've got work in the morning!" He got up, grabbed his bag said a quick goodbye and ran all the way home.

Lance soon go home, instantly greeted with his mamá yelling at him in Spanish; she was saying things like how worried she was and how irresponsible he was. The boy apologised profusely and then ran up to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He groaned and cursed at himself internally for how he acted in front of Matt. Pidge's brother wasn't what Lance had expected, he thought that he was going to be shorter and more- well, unattractive. His image was a lot different to how Katie had described him, which obviously surprised the Cuban. The boy shuffled into his bedroom, quickly getting changed into more comfortable clothing so he could get some rest for work the next day.


	3. Flirting in Shakespeare

After Lance’s embarrassing evening with Matthew Holt, he was glad to be at work. The smell of coffee, tea and various confectionary treats that ‘Altea’ offered filled the room, brightening the young man’s mood a little. As he waited behind the till at 9 o’clock for more customers to come rolling in, he looked around the familiar room that was filled with quiet chattering amongst the small, round, wooden tables. His gaze then looked out the huge glass windows that decorated the entrance, enabling him to wistfully watch the passers by. Soon enough, he heard the delicate tinkle of the bell, signalling that someone had just stepped inside. As usual, Lance put on his charming smile, and served the young, blonde lady who had decided to spend her morning in the coffee shop. 

This was his favourite part about the job; focussing on perfecting the customers order, and thinking only about that. This is especially useful when he had something to forget about, even just for a little bit. Like, a large project, an important test or, I don’t know, when he tries to flirt with his friend’s brother and ends up on the floor, for example.

After a few customers, the business became a little slower, less bursts of people would wander through the door. This gave the Cuban an opportunity to quickly speak to his favourite coworker, Allura. He and the young woman, with gorgeous, white hair, had gotten along quite quickly; though she didn’t really appreciate Lance’s constant flirting when they first became friends. The Cuban did eventually stop, realising that she was the owner of Altea’s daughter so he could’ve gotten fired. 

He walked up to her once there was no queue, giving her his usual friendly grin. The woman turned to look at Lance, her eyes softening a little, “Lance! Hi, I haven’t spoken to you all day. How are you?” She asked, pulling him in for a friendly hug, Lance quickly hugging back with a childlike chuckle.

“I’ve been.. alright.. could be better..” he answered honestly, gently pulling away to look down at the shorter female.

“What? What happened?” His friend then asked with a frown subtly growing on her face.

The Cuban let out a frustrated sigh, a small blush appearing on his face as he folded his arms, “well.. last night I went to my friend’s- Pidge’s house.. and she has a really.. really hot brother..” he stated, emphasising the ‘really’s.

“Why is that.. a bad thing?” Allura queried, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she would love to meet a hot guy every now and then, who wouldn’t?

“I made a complete idiot of myself in front of him! I used a pickup line and then slipped! He called me weird!” Lance whined, causing the white haired young woman to ‘aww’ and immediately comforted him. 

After that, the bell rung once more, cutting his conversation with Allura short. Lance sighed once more before putting on his customer face and returned to his cheerful, charming self.

Sometimes, when he was at work, Hunk would drop by to support his friend at the café. He was such a frequent customer that most of the workers knew his name. That day, Saturday, was one of the days he would come in. Lance had been counting down to 11:30 so he could see his beloved friend, and elevate some of the boredom.

When, 11:30 finally rolled around, he was watching the door like a hawk. He only peeled his eyes away when Allura called him to make an espresso. Moments later, however, he heard the door jingle and finished up.  
The tan-skinned boy turned around and called out for his friend, “Huuu-” despite what he thought, he wasn’t greeted but his old friend, but by a very attractive (and very Pidge-like) face, “...iiii. Hi there… you...” he tried to save himself, but instead opted to clear his throat.

“Hi. I’ll have just a black coffee please. No sugar.” Matt ordered, and paid, before waiting on his phone.

The tall boy began to make the coffee on a machine beside his white haired coworker, “Holy shit, Allura, that’s the guy I was talking about!”

“Who, him?” She nodded in his direction, Lance confirmed, blushing face in his hands, “oooh, he’s kind of cute! If he’s straight, send him my way.”

“This is serious! Do you think he’ll recognise me?” He whined.

“Well, no time to ponder about that now, you’ve got a very hot customer to serve!” 

“Black coffee for Matt?” The brunette timidly announced, after crossing the brewing station to the counter.

“Thanks.” That was it, Matt took the coffee and went on his way.

...Or so Lance had hoped. Instead, Matt peered at the barista for a second or two before speaking, “Do we know each other? You look familiar.”

“Nope, don’t think so.” He tried to keep his composure and professionalism.

“Yeah, we’ve definitely met.” His brown eyes were piercing into his, recognition trying to break through, but it seemed more accusatory to him.

“Don’t remember, sorry, didn’t happen.”

“You’re Katie’s friend!” He finally expressed, “You were flirting with me! You went full on,” He grabbed Lance’s hand like he was about to propose and put the other to his heart, “‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ On my ass!” He recited with his eyes shut. When his eyes opened again he saw the face of a very flustered, very red Lance McClain.

A few seconds of awkward tension passed before Matt cleared his   
throat, his eyebrows slowly and subtly furrowing in confusion. “Right, well.. I- uh.. better get going, I have.. somewhere to be.. thank you for the coffee..” he then muttered, swiftly leaving the shop, the small bell on top of the door gently tinkling to signal his exit.


	4. !Estás Arruinando mi Vida¡

After the awkward encounter, Lance exhaled deeply from embarrassment and soon heard Allura from across the counter cackling. The Cuban flashed her a glare, causing her to profusely apologise, whilst continuing to laugh. “Allura! This isn’t funny!” He groaned, running his hands through his hair to calm himself down from the incident.  
“Oh, Lance, I’m sorry! But you should’ve seen your face! You were so red..” the young woman justified, soon composing herself, “it was just cute, adorable.”  
“Embarrassing and humiliating- more like..” Lance murmured in defeat.  
“Look, it was fine! But hey, think of it this way, at least he used a Shakespeare quote on you..? And! You got to hold his hand?” Allura suggested weakly, shrugging a little.  
Lance groaned hopelessly, he could be quite stubborn, “It’s no use, that’s it. I’m finished. I’m gonna die alone..”

“Shiro, why am I such a dude magnet? Honestly, this happens to me at least thrice a week...” Matt groaned, flopping onto the familiar sofa of his friend, Shiro’s sofa.   
The older man simply sighed, looking down at the mousy brown haired man, “listen, Matt, I hate to ruin your.. gay fantasy.. but that’s never happened to you. This is the first time..” he uttered as he crossed his arms and let out a chuckle, “one boy flirts with you, and it goes straight to your head!”  
“Ugh, you don’t understand my struggles. Lance is attractive but he’s Katie’s friend! And.. that’s just odd,” he complained moodily.  
“First of all, I’ve got Keith’s teenage angst to deal with, I don’t need yours. Secondly, I definitely understand. If you can remember, boys love me,” Shiro teased charmingly.  
Matt deadpanned, “Except Adam, huh?”   
“We broke up on my mutual terms!” Shiro sobbed offendedly.  
“Shiro, it was five months ago.”  
The black-haired man whimpered, “I want him back, Matt…”  
“Yeah, yeah, that’s great Shiro, now what do I do about Lance? He’s giving me this weird feeling in my stomach that won’t go away.. I don’t even know him! He just flirted with me and that’s all I can think of!”  
“Matthew Holt, it’s a crush, it’s normal! Gosh, for someone so intelligent, you’re really stupid,” Shiro remarked with frustration for his friend.  
Matt scoffed, “you’re insane, it’s not really a crush. Like I said, I don’t know him,” he reiterated, returning the frustration.  
“Stop being such a coward and ask him out! That’ll help you figure out your feelings. If you simply just find him attractive and nothing else, then, fine, it’s not a crush. However if you end up having a great time with him and you think you might like him, I’ll be the first one to say ‘I told you so’, okay?”  
Matt grumbled before reluctantly giving in, “okay, fine, whatever.. I’ll.. ask him out eventually, if it goes badly, you owe me.”

As soon as Matt got home, he stalked into Pidge’s room and stood in her doorframe awkwardly.  
“Uh.. can I help you?” She asked, pulling one of her earphones out of her ear.  
“I need you to ask Lance out for me..” he mumbled through gritted teeth.  
“Sorry, what? I’m not getting involved in your guys’ little fling. It weirds me out!”  
“Come on, Katie! I need to see if I actually like him!”  
“Nuh-uh. Hunk and I are the first people Lance come to with his love problems. I’m not willingly going to put myself through that kind of abuse! Lance could talk the hind legs off of a donkey! His infatuation with you will go away on its own.”  
“But what if I actually like him?” He begged.  
“Ask him yourself! He works Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Weekends at Altea. That’s as much as I’m willing to help you.”  
“Thanks, Katie, you’re the best!”  
“I better be the best man at your wedding..” She muttered.

The next morning, Matt stood outside the small cafe psyching himself up ask Lance if he wanted to ‘hang out’, “It’s not a date, just getting to know him!” He told himself. He decided to go in before people looking at him, through the window, thought he had completely lost his mind.

He strode confidently to the counter, despite being a bundle of nerves, and looked the shocked Cuban right in the eyes, “Lance, listen.. I’m kinda busy this week but, next week do you want to, y’know, hang out? Get to know each other a bit?” Lance blinked a couple of times, processing the words, and before Matt could even follow up with a ‘Just as friends’, he resorted to panicked Spanish, “¿Por qué no me dejas en paz, sexy diablo? !Estás arruinando mi vida¡” He shouted a bit too loud. 

Allura suddenly burst through the door from the break room, not understanding Spanish, “Is everything okay?” She looked at Lance and then up at Matt, “Oh? Ohh,” she lead the shorter man to the break room by his shoulders after smiling at the other, “excuse us for a moment,” when they were in the safety of the back room she whispered, “what happened?”  
“He asked me if I wanted to hang out, Allura!”  
“What did you say?”  
“‘Why won’t you leave me alone, sexy devil? You’re ruining my life!’ I totally messed up my chance!”  
“I’ll fix this, don’t worry.” The white-haired female walked out to meet Matt again, “is Friday at twelve okay?”  
“It’s perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there, this is Salty lol
> 
> Just want to thank you guys for reading this chapter!!
> 
> Sorry for the slow updates!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! We know that Latte (Lance x Matt) is not the most popular ship, but we’re proud of it, and that’s all it matters :)


End file.
